Toothbrush holder



July 7, I925.

' 1,544,694 I. G. SPEIDEL TOOTHBRUSH HOLDER Filed Dec. 16, 1922 HWHP i Patented July 7, 1925. I

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IMMANUEL Gr. SPEIDEL, 0F BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

TOOTHBRUSH HOLDER.

Application filed December 16, 1922. Serial mi. 607,414.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IMMANUEL G. SPEIDEL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Toothbrush Holders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a holder for tooth brushes, which is designed to enclose the brush head of the same when not in use and render the brush sanitary and prevent the contraction of disease.

It is the purpose of this invention to provide a holder of this character which effectively protects the brush head of a tooth brush while not in use and treats the same with an antiseptic, and which may be operated conveniently and be produced at low cost.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a tooth brush holder embodying my invention. Figure 2 is a horizontal section of the same taken on line 22, Fig. 3. Figure 3 is a vertical section taken on line 33, Fig. 1. Figure 4 is a vertical section taken on line 4.1, Fig. 5. Figure 5 is a horizontal section taken on line 5-5, Fig. 3. Figure 6 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on line 6-6, Fig. 5.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

In the accompanying drawings is shown an embodiment of my invention suitable for holding four tooth brushes, but it is.to be understood that the same may be organized for holding a greater or lesser number of brushes. Although the form of toothbrush adapted to be supported by my improved tooth brush holder may be varied those; for example, shown in the drawings, consist of a brush head 10 having bristles 11 and a handle 12 connected with the brush head by a reduced neck 13.

The enclosing casing of the holder in the,

preferred form shown in the drawings, com prises a rear upright wall 14 which may be secured to the building wall 15 by sc-news 16 or otherwise, a horizontal top 17 and ,rbottom 18 projecting forwardly from theup per and lower edges of the rear wall, and upright end walls 19 connecting opposite ends of the top, bottom and rear walls, the several parts'being preferably constructed of a single sheet of metal.

The bottom of this casing is provided with one or more slots extending rearwardly from the front edge of the same, four of such slots being shown, and each slot having a narrow, straight parallel sided front part 20 and a wide or enlarged rear part'formed by a notch 21 extending laterally from one side of the rear part of said slot. The neck of a tooth brush is passed rearwardly into one of said slots until the same reaches the enlarged rear part thereof where the head may rest by the shoulder on one side of its lower end on the upper side of the bottom adjacent to the notch 21 which forms part of a. seat therefor.

Means are provided for closing that part of each bottom slot when a tooth brush is supported in the inner or rear part of the same which means also preferably aid in supporting the tooth brush. In the preferred construction, these means consist of a horizontally swinging shutter of sheet metal which has its rear part pivoted by a rivet 22 or the like to the bottom of the casing adjacent to that side of the slot opposite to the notch thereof, so that the front part or body 23 of this shutter can cover and uncover the front part of the slot. Adjacent to the pivot 22 the shutter is provided on that longitudinal edge thereof facing the notch 21 with a recess or notch 24: forming a shifting arm 25 on the shutter in rear of said pivot which arm is adapted to swing across the enlarged rear part of the slot.

Preparatory to mounting a tooth brush on the holder, the shutter is turned so that its front body part clears the front part of. the adjacent slot and its rear arm extends across the rear part of the slot, as shown at r the right of Fig. 2, and the left of Fig. 5. Upon passing the neck of a tooth brush backwardly into the respective slot with the brush head up and the handle down, the neck will first move freely through the narrow front part of this slot and then enter the wide rear part thereof while its brush head enters the chamber above the bottom of the casing and the handle passes along the underside of said bottom. As the neck of the brush enters the wide rear part of the slot, the same engages the shifting arm and pushes the same rearwardly until the neck reaches the rear end of this slot, thereby causing the front part of the shutter to be swung across the narrow front part of the respective slot and close the same, thereby practically preventing the passage of dust through this slot into the interior of the casing. The shifting arm of the shutter is swung rearwardly by the neck of the tooth brush until the latter engages the rear end of the respective slot at which time this arm clears the rear end of this slot and the bight of the notch 24 forms a seat upon which the shoulder on the adjacent lower end of the brush head rests and thus forms a support therefor together with the edge portion of the notch 21 in the bottom. Upon moving the tooth brush forwardly, the front or body part of the shutter will be automatically pushed to one side of the slot by the neck of the brush and shift the arm across the rear part of the slot preparatory to receiving the brush for supporting and storing the same.

The interior of the casing in this instance is divided by an upright transverse partition into two compartments the bottom portion of each of which contains two brush receiving slots. The front side of each of these compartments is closed by a door 26 which in its normal position extends across.

the front end of this compartment and completely closes the same but which can be de fiected upon passing a tooth brush either into or out of one of the slots in the respective part of the bottom. For this purpose each of these doors is mounted midway of its upright edges and between two slots 23 on a pintle or shaft 27 the upper and lower ends of which form trunnions which are journaled in bearings or openings formed' in the front parts of the upper and lower walls of the casing. This door is yieldingly held in a position in which the same closes the front end of the respective compartment by an arm 28 projecting rearwardly from the lower end of the door shaft and a spring 29 connecting the free end of this arm with the adjacent part of the casing.

By this means either end of a door will be deflected either inwardly or outwardly upon passing a brush into or out of one of the compartments but after the brush has cleared the door the latter will be automatically returned to its closed position, so that dust is excluded from the compartment and the brush stored therein is maintained in the most sanitary condition.

In order to prevent the bristles of the brush from coming in contact with the door while puttting the same into the compartment or removing the same therefrom the brush should be pressed with the back of the head against the outer side of the door for pushing the latter inwardly and admit ting the head, and the brush should be removed from the compartment while the same is in this same position relatively to the door. During the outward movement however of the brush its neck engages with a horizontal flange 35 which preferably projects inwardly from the lower edge of the door and which is greater in width than the length of the bristles of the brush, thus opening the door without permitting the bristles to touch the door and maintaining the brush in a sanitary condition.

In addition to excluding dust, the interior of the casing is preferabl; supplied with an antiseptic vapor for the purpose of destroying disease germs and thus further increasing the sanitary condition of the tooth brushes stored in the casing. For this purpose, the partition is made hollow so as to serve as a tank 30 in which a supply of liquid antiseptic may be stored which is introduced into this tank through an opening in the top which is normally closed by a lid 31 hinged to the top. The vapors may be conducted from this tank into the tooth brush compartments in any suitable manner for instance by conducting the same from the top of this tank downwardly through a conduit 32 arranged in the corners between the partition and rear wall and thence into delivery conduits 83 arranged horizontally in the corners between the rear wall and the bottom part of each chamber, each of said delivery conduits being perforated, as shown at 34, so as to permit the vapors to pass fromthe delivery conduits forwardly and upwardly through the compartments and envelop the bristle heads of the brushes therein and thoroughly disinfect the same.

This device is comparatively simple and inexpensive in construction, it is convenient to use and also neat in appearance and therefore forms a desirable adjunct to the toilet outfit of a household.

I claim as my invention:

1. A tooth brush holder having a compartment provided in its front side with a door opening and in its bottom with a brush receiving slot extending to the front end of the bottom, an upright vertically pivoted door for controlling said door opening, and spring means for yieldingly holding said door in a normal closed position in which the same extends across said door opening and which permits said door to be pushed inwardly from its closed osition u on inserting a brush into said slot an to be pushed outwardly from its closed position upon removing a brush from said slot.

2. A tooth brush holder having a' compartment provided with a brush receiving slot and a door opening at its front side, a door for covering and uncovering said door opening, means for yieldingly holding said door in its closed position comprising an upright shaft carrying said door and pivoted on said casing and provided with an arm, and a spring connecting said arm with said casing and operating to close said door.

- 3. A tooth brush holder having a comtop and bottom of the compartment, an arm partment'provided on its front side with projectin rearwardly from one end of said a door opening and in its bottom with brush shaft, an a spring connecting the arm with 10 receiving slots, a door arranged across the a wall of the compartment-and operating to 6 opening of said compartment, an upright close said door. a

a shaft secured to the door between opposite vertical edges thereof and journaled n the v IMMANUEL G; SPEIDEL. 

